Assessing species diversity

• conservation is conserving what is already in existence
• renewal is fostering growth in existing populations
• phases of management:

  • indentifying the cause of the issue
  • developing a path to reverse decline
  • creating stratergies to avoid decline in the future
• stratergies to maintain and grow populations:

  • creation of protected areas
  • preservation of remanant vegetation
  • translocation of individual organisms
• national parks are established for wildlife and landscape conservation or preservation of historical, archaeological or scientific interest; have international/ national value
• nature reserves a tract of land managed to protect eisting flora and fauna and physical features from harm
• conservation reserve have the sae purpose as national parks but do no have the same national/international value
• conservation of aquatic areas and the biodiversity they support includes marine parks
• no conservation area offers complete, permanent protection as economic pressure to exploit resources are often present
• multi-use management areas provide for sustained production of water, timber, pasture, wildlife and recreationwith conservation of nature primarily geared towards the support of human economic activities
• loss of one species can lead to the reduction of another
• when a species reproductive pathways are limited they are vulnerable
• bioaccumulation = an organism absorbs a pollutant at a faster rate then the organism can remove it
• biomagnification = organisms at higher trophic levels can be more affected by a substance than lower levels
• competition can be a threat to biodiversity when organisms don't have resources
• the ICUN assess the risks to biodiversity and specific species by measuring changes in population size, availability suitable habitat and geographic distribution
• availability of habitat -> species at risk of or has been losing habitat may be classified as vulnerable or at risk
• geographic distribution -> species with a wide geographical distribution are less vulnerable than species with a narrow geographic distribution
• conservation reserves = protected areas of land or water that are managed with the aim of preserving and restoring biodiversity
• translocation = the deliberate movement and release of plants, animals or fungi into the wild for conservation purposes
• erosion = the combination of processes that wear rock and soil from the land surface
• world heritage areas = internationally recognised sites that are known to have great cultural or conservation value
• population viability analysis is a technique that assists in risk management in conservation biology
• diversity of protected areas in Aus is brought together through the National Reserve System
• NRS is a system of terrestrial protected areas that contribute to the conservation of Australia's biodiversity
• NRS has been collabritively developed by the state, terriotory and Aus Governments, non-government organisations and Indigenous landholders
• today AUS has over 600 national parks, which accounts for 4% of the land area
• 6% or more of Australia is protected and includes conservation areas within state forests, bnature reserves, indigenous protected areas and conservation reserves
• clearing vegetagtion has frwuently resulted in habitat fragmentation
• remanant vegetation are often small and isolated for each other
• to improve a fragmented population wildlife corridors between remnant vegetation can be made to allow movement to wider areas
• advantages of wildlife corridors

  • increase available habitat to native species
  • allows gene flow between sub populations
  • recolonisation of areas from which species have disappeared
• disadvantages of wildlife corridors

  • could spread fire, disease, and pests
  • genetic swamping (if gene pool of one sub-population dominates)
  • costly to maintain and establish
• remnant vegeatation beside waterways can act as wilidlife corridors in urban areas
• plants and animals may be returned to an area from which they have been eliminated or where numbers are low
• four types of translocations

  • reinforcement
  • reintroduction
  • assisted colonisation
  • ecological replacement
• reinforcement is introducing organisms into an existing population of species
• reintroduction is introducing a species to an area where it has been lost
• ecological replacement is intorducing a species outside its naturaal range to boost an ecosystem's chances of survival
• assisted colonisation is introducing a species outside its natural range to boost its chances of survival